Beast
by Star Rhapsody
Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome find themselves trapped in a shrine with a limited amount of time to live. Slowly, others begin getting dragged into the game. [Resembles Kakurenbo]


**AN: **Uhm. Long ago, I started something similar to this, but I removed rather quickly because it was horrible. Horror has never been my forte, as I'm sure you've all noticed. But I think writing is all about experiencing new things. So I've decided to try my hand at horror again. We'll see how this goes. Heck, it might never be touched again. But enjoy. You might also notice this is very similar to Kakurenbo.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha OR Kakurenbo.

**Beast**

**Chapter One**

Kagome paused as she came across the old shrine house that hardly anybody entered. Only the foolish or insane would try to get past the creatures living inside it. Though it was daytime, Kagome was feeling shivers running up and down her spine. Tightening her jacket, she hastily walked past the shrine, not once looking back.

Several stories were reported about people who went missing inside. She had decided that it would be horrible if they were still alive in a place such as that. They may as well be suffering.

For no reason at all, Kagome had felt like taking a walk, not really knowing where her feet would drag her. And as time passed by, she was suddenly aware of her surroundings; it was the downtown area where nobody lived. Of course, this was because of the shrine. Because she didn't want to pass the shrine again, she decided on taking a new route. She couldn't say she was certain about where she was going, but she was always told she had a keen sense of direction, so she trusted her instincts.

Suddenly, Kagome tripped over a tipped over trashcan, yelping as she clutched her foot while keeping her palm on the crumbling side of a wall to support herself. Blood slowly began to pour out of her wound, causing Kagome to let out a string of curses. Sometimes she felt like the stupidest girl in the world.

"Oi!" A voice called.

Kagome looked up, eyes wide. She was surprised someone else would actually be out here.

"Who is it?" She called back, hoping it wasn't her imagination.

A figure slowly came into view. It was a young man who seemed to be not much older than her. Sighing in relief, she limped over to him, careful not to fall over anything else.

"Nasty scratch," he stated, eyeing her damaged knee. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I was taking a walk, and I happened to get sidetracked," she said sheepishly.

"Well, if you want to head back home, I'd suggest you'd turn right back. This place is all in ruins, and you're just going deeper and deeper into them."

Kagome involuntarily shivered, remembering the old shrine which was still visible.

"There is no way I'm passing that shrine again!"

The man shrugged, as if it were no big deal. "If you keep your head down, walk quickly, the demons and other beasts that live there won't bother you. Maybe. There's always that small chance…" He muttered to himself, not noticing Kagome's blanching face.

"So it's true!" She shrieked. "There really _are _things roaming in there! I always thought they were old stories and myths, but it's seriously true!"

The man shrugged once more, not knowing what to say. "I guess so. But stories are stories, and you can't trust them all. Hell, that shrine probably is some regular old decaying building just like the rest of them here. It wouldn't be surprising."

Kagome gave a skeptic look at the shrine, but turned back to him.

"What's your name? And why exactly are you out here if this place is all just…You know…Ruins?"

The man smirked. "Inuyasha. And I happen to hang around here. It ain't so bad once you get used to the weirdness. You know the old cliché stuff: Lights flicker, roars can be heard. And of course, you can hear the occasional crumbling of some wall finally caving in. Half these routes are dead ends anyway. Your name?"

"Oh…I'm…I'm Kagome. Kagome Higurashi. I honestly don't know why you'd hang around here but, I guess it isn't my place to question it." A strong breeze passed by, making Kagome wince. "I'd better get going…Besides, I have this stupid knee to take care of."

Inuyasha smiled a little. He didn't like showing compassion and friendliness, but she looked trusting enough. She was just a girl who got lost on the way. There wasn't anything suspicious about her. "Look. I'll help you fix your knee before you go. Just follow me and don't take your eyes off me. Otherwise, you'd get lost in the mist. For some reason, it's just really heavy around here."

Kagome ran a hand through her hair, deciding whether or not to go. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be, but this place just creeped her out. However, she couldn't just refuse a kind offer like that. Plus, she would look insane to reject some assistance with her knee—it was pouring blood right about now.

"Thanks."

--

She didn't know what made her trust him, but he seemed genuinely concerned about her. Besides, if he had wanted to kill her or something, he wouldn't have told her to turn around and leave. They walked for about ten minutes, making many turns. She lost track after the ninth turn. How he knew where he was going, she wasn't sure, but obviously he had been around long enough to know. Every street looked the same to her.

"How do you where to go?" Kagome inquired.

"When you've been around as long as I have, it's pretty simple."

Kagome nodded and continued walking, clutching her knee every now and then. Inuyasha suddenly came to a halt, which made Kagome bump into him. Quickly, she stepped back, muttering apologies. When she looked over his shoulder, she saw two people sitting there with a tiny cat perched on the woman's shoulder.

"Wait…Who are these people?"

"My friends. This is Sango", he gestured towards the woman, "Miroku," he pointed at the man, "And Kirara, Sango's cat."

Kagome nodded her head and waved. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. Nice meeting you all…?" She said, somewhat unsure of what to do afterwards. She saw Sango giving her this odd look while Miroku grinned, a little too friendly. She noticed a sword was strapped to Sango's waist, causing Kagome to flinch a little. If anything, she'd think they were a group of bandits.

Of course, she happened to be right.

"You're bandits…Aren't you? That's why you live here?" She questioned immediately upon realizing this.

Miroku smiled and got up.

"Yes, Miss Kagome. We've been here for a quite awhile…We'd like to think of it as our hideout. Every group of bandits need one, don't you think?" He said, smiling. Kagome gave him a wary look, not sure if she could trust him. And when he reached her backside, she was definitely sure she couldn't trust him.

"Miroku!" Sango yelled, snatching him by the small ponytail. "How many times a day do I have remind you to stop doing that! It's annoying and horrible."

Inuyasha glared and turned to Kagome. "Don't mind them. They always fight over stupid things. Now. About that knee of yours…Sango!" He called, bringing her onslaught to a stop. "Can you fix up this girl's knee here? She seemed to have tripped and banged it up pretty badly."

Sango shoved Miroku aside and gave Kagome a small smile, one that actually seemed friendly and sincere. Inuyasha just smirked and Miroku…Had his reasons.

"Here, sit down," Sango gestured to rotting crate. "This will only take a minute." Sango ripped some cloth off of her shorts and cleaned off her knee with it, before ripping off another piece and tying it tightly around her knee. "For now, it should do. When you get home, I'd wash it and get a better band aid."

Kagome smiled and thanked her before getting up.

"I guess…I should be going now. Thanks for all your help and nice meeting you all!" She said, though she threw a worried glance at Miroku who still had a smile on his face. It was truly disturbing.

"I'll be taking her back now. Make sure nothing happens!"

Sango and Miroku waved as the pair began walking down the street.

--

The trip back seemed longer than the one going there. Then sun was already gone, giving an eerie look to everything. She shuddered when a light breeze brushed past her. Inuyasha turned his head halfway, looking at her.

"You okay? You seem tense."

"Well yeah! I mean, look at where we are! And the sun's already gone. Aren't you the least bit scared?" She shot back, feeling the need to defend herself.

Inuyasha chuckled and continued walking.

"It takes a lot to get me worked up. Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing can happen." Kagome took some reassurance in his words, taking deep breaths. She didn't know _why _the place scared her so much, but then again, she had always hated watching scary movies. Her friends would always tease her about it too, making impressions of her shrill screams.

As they began nearing the shrine, she saw a light flicker on one of the crumbling walls. The color changed from a fiery red to a light, blazing green. It scared her and amazed her to be honest. Out of habit, she clung to Inuyasha's sleeve. Whenever something scared her, she had to grip on the closest thing near her.

Inuyasha suddenly paused.

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kagome whispered, knees shaking.

"If you listen closely, you can hear a growl coming from the shrine." Inuyasha had stopped right at the entrance of the shrine. Kagome looked up at it, noting that the stories were endless. It wasn't a surprise that people were said to be lost in there.

"Can't we just move!" Kagome urged, panic evident in her voice. "This place is freaking me out!"

"Wait…Just wait a second," Inuyasha muttered, venturing closer to the entrance. Cautiously, he opened the door, peering inside. Instantly, the whole room began to glow red, as if it were the very core of a volcano. Kagome gasped before running up to Inuyasha's side, limping slightly.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know…Let's go inside."

He took a step inside, marveling at the oddities of the shrine. This rarely happened in all the years that he hung around here. It usually stayed in a somewhat dormant state. Kagome warily followed him inside, turning her head all around, expecting some creature to lunge at her from above or behind.

"This is ridiculous! I have to go home now!" Kagome huffed, walking towards the doorway.

"Wait!" Inuyasha called.

Just as she was about to walk through, several blades blocked off the entrance, snatching some strands of Kagome's raven hair and retracted back inside the doorway.

Inuyasha had grabbed her just in time before the blades went through her whole body which would be much worse than the scrape on her knee.

Kagome's eyes were wide open, mouth agape. She was in shock after what just happened. Incoherent words came out of her mouth as she stared at the doorway. Had he not pulled her, she would've been laying on the floor either dead or close to dying.

"Th-Thanks…" Kagome barely whispered, momentarily clutching her neck. She hated to think of what the blades would've felt like. They seemed rather sharp.

"No problem. We're going to have to be more careful. What comes in stays in. So we just have to figure a way to get out—"

Kagome quickly whirled around, sapphire eyes glowering.

"This is all YOUR fault! If you had just continued walking, none of this would've happened! But no! You just _had _to go exploring!"

Inuyasha sighed, but didn't say anything due to the fact that a loud rumble echoed throughout the shrine. The floor shook a little, but stopped after a few seconds. Kagome looked down at her feet, then up at Inuyasha. When they got out of here, she was ready to strangle him. That is, if they ever got out. They entrances seemed pretty much guarded, and Kagome wasn't willing to test out any others.

"Look, we'll get out, I promise. Just don't get scared! These beasts probably enjoy your fear anyways. Just stick by me and you won't get hurt."

"Well look what sticking by you got me into! Had I just stayed outside, I wouldn't even be in this mess!"

Inuyasha whipped his head back, violet eyes glaring. "Who said you had to follow me? You just chose to waltz right over to the doorway! It's not like I was "OH! Kagome! Come here, come here!""

"Shut up," Kagome hissed, folding her arms.

"Look, for now, we'll try to find a way out of here. Let's put all arguments aside and save them for later." Without giving Kagome a chance to respond, he began walking towards the staircase thatlooked like it was rotting.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome followed him.


End file.
